30 



rich the wheat fields in Europe, which have been for the last two 

 years, to a considerable extent, and to our great disgrace, the grana- 

 ries of the United States. 



Rye can scarcely be said to be cultivated in Essex County. In 

 Salisbury, on poor land, 7 bushels are given as the produce of an 

 acre. In Wenhain, 15 and 16 bushels. In Manchester, 12 bush- 

 els. In Saugus, IS to 25 bushels. A small farmer in Gloucester, 

 whom I induced to measure and report exactly the produce of a small 

 rye field, returns 9J bushels rye this year on 37 rods of land. A 

 considerable amount of rye was formerly raised in the upper j)arish 

 of Beverly, but the cultivation was for a time discontinued. It has 

 been revived, and it is calculated 1000 bushels have been raised 

 there this year. In Amesbury, and the northern parts of the county, 

 it is represented as subject to blight. The cost of cultivating rye 

 differs little from that of wheat, excepting in the price of the seed ; 

 of which only half the quantity is sowed to an acre, and that of half 

 the value of wheat. The general impression is, that as much wheat 

 can be grown to an acre as of rye ; and the chance of success is as 

 great for the wheat as the rye. In such case, the crop would of 

 course be of double the value. Justice is seldom done to this crop. 

 Land, which is considered too poor for any other crop, is consigned 

 to rye without favor or affection. Under good cultivation in Glou- 

 cester, 31 bushels weighing 62 pounds to the bushel, were obtained 

 in 1836. I am assured, on respectable authority, that 70 bushels 

 have been obtained from 1^ acre in the parish of Sandy Bay ; 

 and the ensuing year, from an acre of this land, the remainder 

 being appropriated to turnips, 40 bushels were harvested. Of the 

 extraordinary success in Haverhill, in cultivating rye by ploughing 

 in green crops by which 46| bushels were obtained from one acre 

 and thirteen rods, I shall subjoin the cultivator's particular account in 

 the Appendix, as a remarkable and instructive example.* 



Rye straw is always in demand in the large markets for stable lit- 

 ter, and for beds. I have known it sold as high as $8, $10, and 

 $12 per ton. It is often used to be cut up and sprinkled with meal 

 for horse feed ; and in this way to a degree, it is used with equal 



* Appendix E. 



